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chevydriver29, this is the Ask Our Pro's forum, and only Pro members that have been vetted by the AOPC may post advise, commentary or ask questions of the OP here. Please apply to the AOPC today, thank you.

The original title to this thread was "Dirty coils use less freon than clean coils? Seriously?

One thing that everybody here needs to understand is not just no but hell no. A heatpump, regardless of what type of metering device is used, is a critically charged system. The condition of the coils, blower speed, return air situation, plenum size, ductwork or the price of tea in China is absolutely mute. The ONLY way to charge a heatpump correctly is to weigh the charge in and use the manufacturers specs on lineset length to adjust the charge. It is the ONLY way.

Your home warranty contractor is full of that steaming BS you mentioned.

The picture in my avatar is of the Houston Ship Channel and was taken from my backyard. I like to sit outside and slap mosquitos while watching countless supertankers, barges and cargo ships of every shape and size carry all sorts of deadly toxins to and fro. It's really beautiful at times.....just don't eat the three eyed fish....

we charge them up all the time and we do not recover all the refrigerant and weight it back in ,also a dirty indoor coil will run up the discharge pressure and can run up the suction pressure ,a clogged outdoor coil can lower the suction pressure and also lowers the discharge pressure . all you need to do is get the charge close then come back in the spring and fine tune it refrigerant is to expensive to be sucking it all out the weighing in new

Believe me I understand your caution. Been there done that. The difference here however is we didn't call them out for service. We called them out to have them perform the annual system checkup and coil cleaning we had paid for the prior year so we were not having trouble beforehand. IF it was low on freon beforehand, we were unaware. Point is we didn't call them out to fix a leak. And when it's all done we are left with one unit totally inoperable and told it was bone dry on freon, but the second tech disputed that and said it was not bone dry but low six pounds. And after what the manager told me I had to come here to ask the question - was what the manager told me reasonable under the cirucumstances or was it mumble jumble to baffle me with BS because I wouldn't know any better and to get me to pay them more money to fix what I think was their screw up. BOttom line now is oh yes we have one unit that is definitely low on freon because I watched him venting it. Obviously I need to call another company now to get it taken care of but as far as that goes we have a home warranty which is precisely why I told them I didn't what them to do any repairs when I spoke with the first manager. They wanted to check it to see if it had a restriction or not which is what the first guy was saying why it no longer worked. I was planning to go back to the company and speak higher up the ladder but honestly I don't trust them any more. So now I guess I hope the warranty company will still cover it despite those clowns monkeying with it, and if not go to the BBB and the consumer help lines at the local TV stations. Oh joy. By the way, when I saw the guy venting it I took out my cell phone and appeared to be reading email but really i was video taping it. You should hear the hissing sound of that stuff being released. I wonder if the TV consumer guys might be interested in investigating that?

So....they came out for a system check a year later....find it low on freon....and its their fault? Leaks can develop anytime and it could have been fine during the last check.

Has your electric bill gone up over the last few months more than normal? With heatpumps with electric backup, if the heatpump quits working right the electric heat runs more (and most people do not even know it because the electric heat keeps the house warm) however the electric bill goes thru the roof.

Was the unit that was allegedly low on freon (regardless of whether was bone dry or down 6 pounds which is pretty much the same thing on a residential unit) actually working correctly prior to the service visit?

If it hadn't run since the previous season you wouldn't know if you developed a leak or not until the technician looked at it.

Without being able to hear both sides of this story, I have to tell you the purpose of a maintenance visit is to see if things are working right. You see, neither you or I can say the system was working correctly up until that technician arrived.

Dirty coils can change pressures. If you purchased a maintenance plan based on cost alone then you may have a technician who relies only on pressures. In that case it may be time to get a referral for a good company and perhaps have to pay more for a better maintenance plan.

If coil cleaning was a part of your maintenance plan, then dirty coils should have been cleaned. In fact it is possible that you may have been paying only for inspections.

Other dynamics aside, if you can't find the installing contractor and get them to repair whatever leaks you have, then you're going to have to pay somebody else to fix them and recharge your system, and the manufacturer won't cover that.

...........dirty indoor coil will run up the discharge pressure and can run up the suction pressure , a clogged outdoor coil can lower the suction pressure and also lowers the discharge pressure . all you need to do is get the charge close then come back in the spring and fine tune it refrigerant is to expensive to be sucking it all out the weighing in new

Are you real sure about that?

Originally Posted by catmanacman

,,,,,,,we charge them up all the time and we do not recover all the refrigerant and weight it back in.........

Yeah, lots of technicians do this, doesn't mean it's correct. You simply cannot know exactly what's in the system unless you weigh it ESPECIALLY if everyone and their dog and you has jacked with the charge and ESPECIALLY on heatpumps.

And to reiterate, dirty coils DO NOT use less "Freon" than clean coils.

I'm still betting on that steaming pile of BS.

The picture in my avatar is of the Houston Ship Channel and was taken from my backyard. I like to sit outside and slap mosquitos while watching countless supertankers, barges and cargo ships of every shape and size carry all sorts of deadly toxins to and fro. It's really beautiful at times.....just don't eat the three eyed fish....

yes im sure if the evap coil is clogged it is not absorbing heat properly and in heat mode the outdoor coil is the evap coil

Yeah, lots of technicians do this, doesn't mean it's correct. You simply cannot know exactly what's in the system unless you weigh it ESPECIALLY if everyone and their dog and you has jacked with the charge and ESPECIALLY on heatpumps.

And to reiterate, dirty coils DO NOT use less "Freon" than clean coils.
dirty coil can skew you temps and pressures
I'm still betting on that steaming pile of BS.